Presented as part of Mardi Gras+, New Theatre kicks off their 2025 season with the Australian premiere of James Fritz’s astonishing new play, The Flea, from 4 February – 8 March.
London, 1889. Charlie Swinscow, a young post boy, gets busted with 14 shillings in his pocket. But the twist? He didn’t steal it. That cash was payment for his body. Sold to a wealthy aristocrat at a secret gay brothel with ties to the Royal Family.
What starts as a petty arrest spirals into something much bigger. Charlie and his mother get caught in the middle of a national scandal that shakes the very foundations of the British Empire.
This true story is a wild, unfiltered, unpredictable trip through power, deception and disgrace. Raw, funny and sexy, in this true story about the notorious Cleveland Street Scandal, nothing is what it seems and everything feels like a fever dream. Get ready for the ride.
Directed by Patrick Kennedy, who intrigued audiences with his production of Sophia=(Wisdom): The Cliffs at New Theatre in January last year, the cast of five includes New Theatre debutantes James Collins, Sophie Divall, Samuel Ireland and Mark Salvestro.
They are joined by Jack Elliot Mitchell, returning to New Theatre stage after appearances in Hangmen, Ink and The Spook. Other team members include Assistant Director Luke Visentin, Lighting Designer Topaz Marlay-Cole, Associate Set Designer Tom Bannerman and Stage Manager Hermione Bathurst.
“The Flea deftly tackles themes of power, control, and the blurred lines between personal and professional lives,” says Kennedy. “The play’s focus on surveillance, manipulation, and the dark side of human ambition resonates deeply in today’s digital age, where personal freedoms and privacy are increasingly compromised.
“James Fritz’s exploration of societal structures and the manipulation of truth reflects the current global climate, where misinformation and corporate or political power-plays dominate public discourse. As a director with a surrealist aesthetic, I like to create heightened, dreamlike environments which amplify the psychological tension at the heart of plays, subverting the ordinary.”
“Our team will take this to new heights, allowing audiences to question their perceptions and the nature of truth, while drawing them into a world where the rules of time, space, and morality are continually shifting. The surrealist lens will bring a heightened sense of abstraction to the narrative, allowing Sydney audiences to experience the emotional impact of the characters’ struggles in a deeper, more primal way,” said Kennedy.
James Fritz is an award-winning British playwright. Plays for stage include Cashmoney Now (The Big House), Lava (Fifth Word/Soho Theatre), The Fall (National Youth Theatre/Southwark Playhouse), Parliament Square (Royal Exchange/Bush Theatre), Start Swimming (Young Vic), Ross & Rachel (Assembly/BAC/59E59), Four Minutes Twelve Seconds (Hampstead Theatre/Trafalgar Studios) and LINES (Rosemary Branch Theatre).
Plays for audio include: The Test Batsman’s Room At The End Of The World, Dear Harry Kane, Eight Point Nine Nine, Death Of A Cosmonaut, Comment Is Free (all BBC Radio 4) and Skyscraper Lullaby (Audible Originals).
He has won the Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright, A Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, The Imison and Tinniswood BBC Audio Drama Awards and the ARIA Radio Academy Award for Best Drama on two separate occasions. He has also been nominated for the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre and was runner-up in the 2013 Verity Bargate Award.
“Mischievous, searching, gloriously surreal… Fritz [is] certainly one the most boundary-pushing playwrights of today… a riotous, quirky ride.” – Time Out
The Flea
New Theatre, 542 King Street, Newtown
Season: 6 February – 8 March 2025 (previews: 4 & 5 February)
Information and Bookings: www.newtheatre.org.au
Image: New Theatre presents The Flea (supplied)